The Tournament of Warriors
by Curiosity Collected
Summary: In Shanghai, masters from all over the county have come to compete in a yearly event known has The Tournament of Warriors. However, a dangerous man has gained control of the tournament and plans on manipulating it to his own gain. Po, his friends and others must discover what this man's plan is before something disastrous happens. T to be safe.
1. The Man in Black

Everyone was lined up on the stairs in the front of the training hall. Master Shifu had called them there that afternoon to discuss of something rather urgent. Everyone sat quietly as their master spoke to them.

"Listen up," he started, pacing side to side. "Are any of you familiar with the master of the Shanghai Academy of Kung Fu?"

"Heck yeah!" Po had answered rather excitedly. "He's the only Kung Fu master to have created a move that uses his own blood as a weapon. He's even been dawned the name 'The Red Man' or 'The Blood Hound' in some villages. He's totally awesome!" Shifu raised a questioning eyebrow.

"But do you know his actual name, panda?" Po sat quietly with his eyes looking at the ground.

"Um...no." Shifu continued his pacing as he spoke.

"Master Rentei has sent me an urgent request from his home in Shanghai involving the yearly martial arts tournament being held in the city's colesseum."

"What did it say?" Viper inquired as she pointed her nose at the letter in Shifu's hand. Instead of reading it to them, he gave it to Viper so that she may read it out loud. "It says, 'Grandmaster Shifu, Master Rentei formally invites your students all to attend in this year's Tournament of Warriors as contestants. It would be truly a great honor to have such talented and worthy masters here in Shanghai.' Wow, sounds like they really want us there."

"Hold on," Crane interrupted. "I thought Kung Fu masters were prohibited from entering the tournament because it was declared an 'unfair advantage'?"

"Wait, the flyer attached to this letter says, 'No Restrictions to Abilities or Status. All Applicants Welcome.'"

"So, what? Master Rentei is just excusing the rules this year?" Monkey questions.

"I thought it was odd as well," Shifu answered, his pacing stopped as he turned to his students. "However, this message came as 'urgent'. The Shaolin Mail Carriers aren't very flimsy when it comes to letter inspection. That along with the rule dispansion for the tournament leaves me suspicious. Even then; however, I would just let this go and accept it, if it had not been for one other piece of evidence."

"Which is...?" Po asked Shifu with his lips parted in a confused fashion. Shifu walked over, took the letter from Viper and flipped it around, showing a faded, yet visible bloodstain the size of a coin. The Furious Five and Po all found themselves shocked by the sudden reveal of information.

"It's hard to tell who's blood this is on the paper, but regardless, something unsettling is occuring in Shanghai," Shifu proclaimed while he rolled the message back up into a scroll. "And by the looks of it, the Tournament of Warriors has a particular part to play in it."

"And the message being labeled as 'urgent' wasn't a mistake," Tigress pointed out. "Master Rentei could be in trouble."

"Precisely."

"So, ho-ho-hold on," Po intervened, standing on the bottom of the stairs. "What are we getting at here?" Shifu began to walk away from them, staring at the sky. He stopped at the arch of the gate and turned back around to his students, awaiting an answer.

"Pack your things. We leave for Shanghai at nightfall."

* * *

It was nearly dusk as the injured grey husky finished writing the last of the letters he was forced to send out to the many Grandmasters. He wrote the last word of the letter and handed it to the waiting carrier goose to deliver. Before the bird left, he noticed the substantially sized gash on the master's gut.

"Um, Master Rentei, what happened to-"

"It's nothing," the canine answered strongly. "Just nicked myself when I was practicing with my throwing stars. Nothing major." The goose took the master's word for it and dashed out the front door of the academy office. As soon as the door closed, Rentei bent over in his chair and gripped his wound, letting out a small growl.

"Very good performance, Master Rentei." The canine master looked at the tall figure that appeared from the shadows, most of his features being covered by a long black robe, and the rest being covered by a straw hat and red mask. His grey eyes were the only things that showed on his body. "You seemed very convincing and your ability to project the emotion of assurance is very impressive."

"I finished the letters," Rentei coughed out as he straighted his back against the chair.

"Good. When do you expect our guests to arrive?" Rentei growled in response.

"I don't know. A week at least."

"Why so long?" the figure asked it a child-like tone. Rentei felt like he was being mocked, and he hated it.

"They're coming all the way from Valley of Peace to the Shaolin Temple of Dubei. It's not exactly a hop, skip and a jump over here." The mysterious man just shrugged.

"I suppose so...and I guess it'll all be worth it to see that Dragon Warrior people are so hyped about."

"Like you'll ever be able to defeat him. Even someone like me wouldn't be able to defeat his power."

"While that may be arguable, I hope you know my intent isn't to defeat him." Rentei felt a small anger grow inside him as the man began to strut towards the door.

"You expect me to keep my mouth shut about this?"

"Oh, of course not." The figure turned around and had his eyes meet the canine's. "You may tell the contestants and the masters of my being, but no one else."

"What's gonna stop me?" The man then bit his tongue hard, causing a little bit of blood to drip out. He then took the blood from his mouth and began hold it in a sphere like orb, levetating above his palm.

"You know what, you can tell anyone you want. As long as the contestants all stay in the tournament, everything will be just fine. However, if anyone interesting should drop out or leave...I will desimate the city, using your own technique to do so." Rentei sat back, his jaw firmly clenched.

"What are you?" The man then proceeded out the door.

"Just call me Dan."


	2. Welcome to Shanghai

**Author's note: THIS IS NOT A TIPO. EITHER COPE WITH IT AND READ ON, OR LOOK FOR ANOTHER STORY. Sorry, I get a lot of obnoxious TiPo fans than read nothing but that, and it just tweaks my buttons in the wrong way when they don't read because it's not that.**

**R&R, thanks!**

It had taken them six full days to travel by foot to the massive city, but they finally arrived. The Dragon Warrior, the Furious Five and their master all had different thoughts about entering the city. However, the only thought on Po's mind was of course food. He imagined the exquisite plethora of dumplings and bean buns there was in Shanghai's restaurants and bakeries. Before they entered the city through the massive archway, Shifu stopped in front of them to address their next move.

"It says that the residence in which we will be staying at is called 'The Orange Inn'. It should be somewhere closer to the arena, so we need to make our way to the North, straight ahead."

"Right," everyone responded in unison.

"Remember, although this is a mission and we must be alert, it is also an invitation to an honorable event that those of your stature do not normally get to participate in, so act as such. We don't want to raise any red flags until it's absolutely necessary."

"So what do we do when we see Master Rentei?" Po inquired. Shifu began to pace into the city.

"Just act natural until I can discover what's going on. Act like guests, not investigators. Let's go."

The seven of them then all followed Shifu into the booming city of Shanghai. There were people hustling about, moving through in a hurried manner, and others that were doing some sort of occupational duties. Flyers about the tournament were being posted, people were cooking food in the open air while in their small stands, and Po couldn't an eye off them. The city was at least three times bigger than the Valley of Peace, and at least five times as big.

After dodging traffic and sight seeing for a while, the group finally found their sole destination; The Orange Inn. The large gorilla standing next to the double door entrance gave Shifu a sharp look as he asked the question he had said at least a hundred other times that night.

"Name?"

"Master Shifu." The ape glanced at the red panda for a split second and opened the door for him and his students. They observed the inn's lobby floor. It wasn't anything like the ones that were in the Valley of Peace. This one was massive and had comfortable chairs and benches to sit on, and the decor was a relaxing mixture of orange and brown plants. Also, there was a small bar hugging the wall. The people that were in there were all clearly there for the tournament.

"Wow, look at this place!" Mantis acknowledged the moment the door behind them closed.

"I know," Crane continued. "The decor here so soothing."

"What about the size? It's so big compared to anything else I've seen!" Viper added. Po began to sniff the air wildly.

"Forget the imagery, I SMELL FRIED RICE BALLS," the panda uttered loudly.

"Well, you can forget about the food for now, panda," Shifu told the distracted panda as his eyes shifted toward the corner of the room, to which the rest followed. Through the door there came a canine dressed in a formal red robe with golden hems, and he was only about a few inches shorter than Po. "That is Master Rentei."

"Cool!" Po shrieked rather silently. "When do we get to meet him?" Shifu ignored the panda until Rentei made it to a small podium that was set up in the back corner. The canine took one quick glance around before clearing his throat and prepared to speak.

"May I please have your attention!" His loud voice incline caught the eyes and ears of everyone in the vicinity. Once he knew everyone was looking at him, he continued on. "I am Master Rentei, and now that everyone has made it, I would like to say welcome to the 25th annual Tournament of Warriors. I realize that this year's is going to be particularly different than last year's due to a slight change in the rules. As you may or may not have noticed, we have Kung Fu masters here in the building with us tonight." Everyone that wasn't such took a glance around and saw the masters in the room and began to whisper to each other wildly. "Yes, they will be competing as well, but please do not let that detour from participating as well. Now, before I name the contestants that have decided to compete, let me introduce the grand masters that have given us the honor of their presence. Grand Master Shifu of the Jade Palace!"

The red panda slowly walked to the podium, receiving a fair amount of applause as he did. He stood beneath Rentei and waited as the others were introduced as well.

"Grand Master Muhn of the Iron Temple!" A younger looking anaconda snake slithered to front next to Shifu, also receiving some applause.

"Grand Master Benkei of the Luna Tower!" A middle-aged falcon with a brown and white feather pattern stepped forward.

"And finally, Grand Master Chung Su of the Chasm of Dust!" An older looking hulk of a black bear wearing a yellow tunic and brown leggings came to the podium, standing about Po's height.

"Each master has brought students of their own to compete. From Master Shifu, we have six. From Master Muhn, we have three. From Master Benkei, we have two. And from Master Chung Su, we have one. That's twelve masters to fighting tomorrow, and here they are."

"From the Jade Palace, Masters Monkey, Viper, Mantis, Tigress, Crane and the Dragon Warrior himself, Po!" The six all stood in place and waved to the small crowd while keeping their composure.

"From the Iron Temple, Masters Tung, Korra and Lee!" A lizard, cheetah and eagle waved to the crowd as well.

"From the Luna Tower, Masters Mao and Ten Ten!" Two identical leopards, one wearing a blue tunic and the other wearing pink.

"And of course, from the Chasm of Dust, Master Mihn!" A lioness with a black dress acknowledged the applause for her.

"I wish I could announce the other competitors that were lucky enough to receive an invitation to the tournament, but it is getting late, and I believe all of you will need your rest to give it your all tomorrow. Your room keys are all here at the front desk, so please consult the nice lady behind the counter for your room arrangements. Thank you all once again, I will see you all tomorrow. Good Luck!" And with that, Master Rentei had went out the back door as fast as he had came in.

* * *

Rentei shut the door tightly and nearly fell down to his knees as he gripped the place under his robes where the wound was. He breathed heavily and clenched his teeth tightly to his jaw.

"My, my. Your acting skill is truly remarkable, I must say. Are you sure you haven't taken any lessons?" Rentei's teeth clenched even harder when he heard his voice.

"What do you want, Dan? I did what you told me to, no one suspects a thing."

"Hmm, I was just checking on you., and I must say I truly did enjoy your performance in there."

"What do you want with them?"

"Oh, you'll see eventually, Rentei." The man slowly walked away from the ailing canine. "Just you wait and see."


End file.
